A male prisoner in the Ebensee concentration camp, 1945

A male prisoner in the Ebensee concentration camp, 1945

Ebensee was a sub-camp of the Mauthausen concentration camp. It was opened in 1943 and was in operation until 1945 when it was liberated by American troops. It is located in North Western Austria. Only men were imprisoned there, and 11,000 people are estimated to have died there.

The camp mostly saw political prisoners being held captive there. Political prisoners were people who disagreed with the German regime at the time. A political prisoner could be sent to a camp for several reasons, such as expression of opposition against the regime, being a part of a group that went against the regime's

ideals (for example, Marxist or communist ideals), or handing out materials that expressed anti-fascist ideals. The main purpose of the camp was to utilize slave labor to construct massive tunnels to facilitate the development and manufacturing of arms and weapons for the German military.

Those forces to work would engage in hard labor for 11-hour shifts. Another tunnel was to be constructed with the intent of producing petroleum. Rations for the prisoners were irregular and when rations were given to prisoners, they mostly consisted of coffee

for breakfast, hot water with spoiled potatoes for lunch, and a piece of bread with water for dinner. Lice were

common and there were no showers or baths.

Deaths in the camp had different causes, such as disease, starvation, exposure to the elements, targeted human violence, and malnutrition.